My Dad continues his naval memoirs as he talks about serving at HMS Daedalus in World War 2.

In the ways of the Navy I did not go direct from Pwlllheli to Eastleigh but went first to HMS Daedalus at Lee-on-Solent. This, in effect, was the Fleet Air Arm barracks although combined with an operational airfield. Daedalus was a massive transit camp holding several thousand Fleet Air Arm. IN addition to having an operational squadron it also had a training role for flying crews.

An RAF Coastal Command wing operated Sunderland flying boats from there using the slipway and waters of the Solent for their craft.

The administration blocks included the Headquarters of Admiral (Flying) and all his staff.

Lee-on-Solent had originally been built as an RAF station and was typical of pre-war RAF layouts.

Red brick admin buildings and red brick two storey dormitory blocks. However with the onset of World War Two the base had been transferred the base had been transferred to the Royal Navy and had been greatly expanded by the building of rows of Nissan huts. Fleet Air Arm ratings occupied these although in a later visit to Daedalus I was housed for a short time in the brick built dormitories which were far more warm and comfortable than the Nissans.

I spent two months at Daedalus awaiting the move to Eastleigh. The routine daily was the same. Called from our beds at 6.30am by baton waving Petty Officers. We had to bath, shave and toilet in the nearby ablution block. Beds and kit to be made up and stowed away tidily. All kit and possessions had to be kept in a kit bag which in turn was kept in a storeroom at the end of the hut. Anything left lying about was taken by the Petty Officer and put into what as known as the scran-bag. Possessions could only be extracted from the scran-bag on payment of a bar of soap. Soap was not issued, each sailor had to buy his own.

Breakfast was 7.30-8am although the canteen was half a mile from the hutted camp. At 8.30am all personnel paraded on the large parade ground for Divisions.

Men were grouped into different squads of about 75 men, quickly sorted out into lines and then inspected by a Divisional Officer usually a Lieutenant. Any defects in attire or personal appearance were noted and required to be rectified.

The Camp Senior Officer appeared. He was a Commodore RN although often his deputy a Captain RN substituted for him. The entire parade ground was called to attention, the Union Jack was raised at the mast to the tune of God Save the King and then the Senior Officer/s marched of. Every sailor on parade then removed his jumper and collar so that he was stripped down to his white flannel or blue jersey (depending on the time of year) ready for calisthemics. A Royal Marine band was present and and they played pleasant tunes for about 20 minutes until 9am whilst 1000 plus sailors did exercises standing on the spot, all the time sweating and cursing or sometimes humming a catchy tune under there breaths or singing it if there was a dirty version. Colonel Bogey was quite popular.

After that, fully dressed,once more the day’s work began.

Each Divisional Officer had a list of the numbers of men he had to provide for the day’s tasks. There was a huge variety of these so that every man in every division was allocated a task. A man could find himself one day sweeping the roads, another day painting stone kerbs in white, a third day cleaning the canteen, another delivering coke to huts and offices. All tasks seemed to be humdrum and endless. One of the tasks I quickly fell for was the guard. I realised throughout my service that when in barracks being a tall man was a disadvantage. The Navy system of parading was in ranks was always the same, tallest men onto the flanks, shortest at the centre. Being 6 foot tall always meant that I was at the end of lines and if any men were required for guard, the Divisional Officer always detailed these first and consequently chose his numbers fro end ranks. I was always chosen for the Guard.

During the night we spent several hours stationary in a railway siding I know not where because of air raids taking place. About 5 o’ clock in the morning the train stopped in Crewe station a well known staging point for rail travellers and we managed to get tea and a wad from ladies serving such on the platform. This was our only sustenance until we reached our destination Pwllheli in NOrth Wales dishevelled and weary to be lorried once more to Butlins Holiday Camp known for the duration of the war as H M S Glendower.

The date was 13th February 1945 and we knew from first off that we had really come under the discipline of the Royal Navy. As before we were allocated chalets, six men to each chalet. After disposing of our kit in the appropriate chalet we then fell in again and marched to lunch (dinner)

Immediately after dinner we divided into squads to form a Division and after being sorted out and straightened out by a Chief Petty Officer and several Petty Officers who were to be our supervisors during the ensuing months our Divisional Officer appeared on the scene. He as a Lieutenant RNVR and was typical of all Divisional Officers in wearing black riding boots, leather belt with sword and cap pulled down close to the eyes. Chiefs and Petty Officers also wore khaki belt and gaiters. It was clear that smartness “spit and polish” were to be the routine at Glendower.

And so began four months of intense training to turn us into physically fit, efficient and disciplined sailors. A good part of the daily routine was taken up with marching and with arms drill using Lee Enfield rifles and bayonets. Interspersed with drills, we had instruction on various aspects of seamanship – semaphore, knots and splices, lead sounding mines, torpedoes and paravanes, ropes and rigging. There was also regular physical training to keep you fit as if all the other activities didn’t do that.

I, personally, as I think did a lot of others, enjoyed the discipline and training. If you learned to jump quickly to any command from the instructors, if you were at the right place on time and kept your mouth shut on parade you could avoid the wrath of the Petty Officers.

Once each week we had boat drill. This meant a journey into the quayside at Pwllhelli where several types of naval boat were kept. Under the eagle eye of a Warrant Boatswain we were taught how to handle the oars of the various boats until we became proficient at getting a cutter or a whaler into the water rowing it round the harbour and getint it back in its davits.

By the beginning of the second week there was a 12 inch snowfall and a couple of days were spent snow-clearing. Before the fortnight was up we had been knocked roughly into shape as a squad who could march more or less in step, had been taught how to salute officers and how to distinguish some of the various ranks so that we didn’t salute Petty Officers and Chief Petty Officers.

We were about ready for our next move although we were not told where that would be. There was still a war on and posters all over the country said “Careless Talk Costs Lives” although how vital the information would be to Hitler that a hundred or so matelots with two weeks experience being moved from A to B would be I don’t know.

Before the move were were to get paid. Throughout the Navy pay parade for “other ranks” was more or less on the same lines. Men were lined up in an order known only to the Payment Officer and when each man’s number was called he stepped forward to the pay table, saluted the paying officer, removed his cap and placed it on the desk when his fortnightly pay was placed within it. Take up the cap, remove the money, place cap on head, salute the officer and turn away back to the ranks. Sailors were paid 3 shillings a day the equivalent of the present 15p. Thus fortnightly 42 shillings. However it was a compulsory requirement that of this amount one third had to be allocated to the next of kin whether a man was married or single, thus a man’s actual pay every fortnight was 28 shillings. The Navy sent 14 shillings per month to Mother. Additional to this each man was paid sixpence per week kit allowance.

The issue of kit mentioned earlier was the one and only issue throughout a man’s service. The only exception to this rule was if climatic or working conditions required a man to have additional clothing. Whatever official issue of clothing a man had he had thereafter to replace at his own expense. This applied whether an item of clothing was worn out, lost or stolen. Once again there was an exception and that was if an item of kit was lost or damaged during enemy action.

Thus unlike the Army or the Air Force who received replacement kit if the original wore out the men in the Navy replaced items themselves. Most shore depots had what were known as Slop Stores (kit was known as Slops) which were open at certain times and where a man could purchase replacement kit.

Theft was a serious offence and in general did not take place but nevertheless each man kept all his kit secure in his large kit bag which was capable of being padlocked. It was also an offence to be in possession of kit bearing another man’s name, hence the requirement to name-stamp everything in one’s own kit. It was of course an additional means of identifying a drowned sailor.

No opportunity had been given for any of us new recruits to leave Royal Arthur during the fortnight we were there.
We therefore scrambled on the last day carrying out own kit and were lorried to Skegness Station to board the troop train in which we remained for the next 19 hours.

It is worth spending some time describing the kit that was allocated to a sailor who was going into the seaman branch as all of us at Royal Arthur were.

You were marched as a squad into a large camp hall which was fitted out as a supply store and if I can remember then all were given the following:-
1 Large canvas kit bag
2 hammocks with strings and rope
1 soft mattress and mattress cover
1 blanket
2 serge trousers
2 serge jumpers
1 Melton overcoat
1 black oilskin coat
2 pairs of boots
2 wool jerseys (blue)
2 white cotton shirts (known as fronts or flannels)
2 caps
2 cap tallies (each with HMS in gold cotton)
4 pairs blue wool stockings
1 silk square
1 white lanyard
1 Attache case 14 inches by 11 inches by 4 inches
1 Trouser/money belt
1 Pussers knife
2 boot brushes
1 gas mask
1 Manual of seamanship
1 sewing set (known as a Housewife or Husseiff
and last but not least a large sheet of brown paper and a length of string.

Also a little block of wood some 4 inches by 2 inches by 3 quarters of an inch slotted along its length. A group were given a box of letters in woood whch were soaked in the block to spell out your name. This was used to mark your clothes in white or black paint.

Loaded with all these items we were taken to a large room by our instructor now known to be Leading Seaman “Knocker” White and it was demonstrated to us how the various items of clothing were put on to become the sailor’s square rig. We were also shown how to sling a hammock and also how to lash and stow it when not in use.

At this time were were each given a bakelite disc on a length of string to wear around the neck at all times, literally all times. The disc had stamped on it the man’s name, religion and service number. My number was P/JX739065 with the P representing Portsmouth as being my home depot.

Also at this time were were given pieces of wood rather like shortened clothes pegs on the end of each of which was a letter of the alphabet and on full stop. When these were arranged onto a short piece of wood each man’s name was splet. Tins of white and black paint were produced and each man marked everyone of his items of kit using his name board, white paint on dark-coloured clothing and black paint on light.

We were each given a handful of metal studs – hobnails and were told the precise pattern how they should be knocked into our boot soles.

We were then told to repair to our chalets to change from civilian clothing into uniform and to stow our kit away tidily.

The reason for the mysterious sheet of brown paper and string became apparent when were were told to wrap up all our civilian clothing into a parcel and to address it home. After being handed in at the Camp Office it was posted home compliments of the Navy.

The next thing was to hear at 6.30am next morning a Petty Officer banging each bed with a stick with shouts of Wakey Wakey. Still pitch black, there was a scramble to find the toilet block now to be known as “Ablutions” and to fight along with dozens of others for a sink to wash and shave in cold water and to await a chance to use one of the row of toilets.

Breakfast was porridge followed by bacon, egg and fried bread. There was one thing that despite strict rationing to the civilian population, food in the Navy was always good. After breakfast, we fell in as a squad again.

There were now more than a hundred newcomers and we were divided into 13 groups of about 30 and were placed under the guidance of a Leading Seaman whose job it was to see that each member of his squad did everything that he was told and to it right during the next fortnight. Mine was called Leading Seaman White.

First of all, every man underwent another thorough medical examination. Having been searched minutely for piles, dropped testicles, flat feet, ears, eyes and throat peered into, stethoscoped and found to be breathing, you were declared to be fit, vaccinated and innoculated and from there went to be allocated a service number.

At the same time you were given a Station Card which identified who you were and which had to be produced on demand e.g. at mealtimes to see that you only got one meal and not two!

In the days that followed, each man received a haircut to be paid for and this was indifferent to the plea that you had had a haircut a few days before joining. He was also given his full kit, had his photograph taken, given a pay book, vaccinated, innoculated and generally made to jump to it!

Pleased to meet you!

I'm Kate and thanks so much for visiting my blog.
The blog aims to make women feel great about themselves and to help with the challenging issues life sometimes throws our way as women and mums. It also highlights good causes, celebrates our family life and sometimes goes too far and slips right through that thin ice!